Lauren, 36: I remember scrolling through this Melissa Clark recipe on the New York Times Web site. It was for some kind of pasta that uses “pantry staples.” At first, I thought, Great—maybe this recipe would call for three pieces of spaghetti, a dry ball of raisins, and cough syrup, which is what I usually keep in my pantry. But as I continued reading I realized that my pantry staples were not what this recipe required. Then I blacked out.
Lane, 33: That a recipe would assume you have the ingredients already, in your apartment—I mean, I’d heard of it happening, but . . . not in my lifetime.
James, 45: In all these recipes, there were so many anchovies. I read that when I sautéed the anchovies in oil, they would “melt.” I was uncomfortable with the idea of melting fish, but I liked that they could lend pasta some umami richness. The question became: Why had I not put any anchovies in my spaghetti until now? And how many people were already adding this ingredient to pasta, in their homes, all around the country? The thought was staggering.
Carmen, 27: In the cabinet above my sink, I had a can of pinto beans. I also had baking powder from 2007, when I got this idea to make cinnamon scones but gave up because then I would have to wash a lot of dishes. When I realized that I could no longer go outside and buy a prepared salad any time I was hungry, I got out my stepladder and pulled down those beans. The can was bulging at the sides and I wondered, Is that bad?
Lee, 50: I was going to make this stew I found online that looked pretty good. It said you could use what you had on hand, so I went through the storage bucket that I keep above my refrigerator. Soon enough, I discovered a yeast packet. I also found popsicle molds, along with some actual mold. I mixed these up in a bowl. Would I make this stew again? I don’t think so.
Taylor, 32: As I kept reading recipes for meals you could make with “pantry staples,” it dawned on me that Sam Sifton, Alison Roman, Samin Nosrat—all these recipe developers I was getting to know—were talking about the same thing, a sort of storage system for food. Maybe in a closet, or a series of cabinets. The idea is that you’re not eating the food right away, but it is there. It might be in clear plastic containers that are labelled, because it seems that there are multiple types of flour and you shouldn’t mix them up. I did a Google search for pantries and saw that some pantries have doors. One pantry I saw even had a drawer!
Ari, 40: Apparently, pantries contain food that is “shelf-stable,” and I’m not talking about the paper plate that I folded up and put under my bookshelf to keep it steady.
Liz, 25: I was going to try making this bean soup I saw online, but all I had were Honey Nut Cheerios. I poured some into a bowl instead. It was almost like having the bean soup.
Tamar, 31: I felt so inspired by these pantry recipes that I went out to buy lentils, capers, tuna, tahini, sardines, giant white beans, tomato paste, farro, artichoke hearts, and something called grapeseed oil. But then I got home and was, like, “Oh, my God, what have I done? I don’t like any of these things.” But the good thing about pantry staples is that you don’t have to eat them. They can sit on your shelf. Sometimes forever.
